Archive for January 2013

Marcia Bergeron died in British Columbia in December 2006 from heavy metal poisoning caused by the prescription medications she had purchased from a fake online pharmacy. Friends and family were shocked, because Marcia’s health was robust, and she thought she was suffering from the common flu.

This is a reprint of an FDA Alert Recall — Firm Press Release FDA posts press releases and other notices of recalls and market withdrawals from the firms involved as a service to consumers, the media, and other interested parties. FDA does not endorse either the product or the company. Freedom Trading Issues a Voluntary…

In an effort to stem the tide of fake drugs being produced in their country, China’s Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) offers a bounty of $50,000 US to those who report counterfeit drug production. This comes on the heels of recent success by the SFDA in shutting down counterfeit drug websites catering to Chinese-speakers.

China’s Food and Drug Administration has begun offering an increased bounty to anyone who reports counterfeit drug production to the agency. On January 17th the SFDA (on their English-language website site) stated “To encourage the public to report illegal activities so as to discover, control and eliminate potential safety risks concerning food and drug in time, and to crack down on illegal and criminal activities concerning food and drug, the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) and the Ministry of Financial of China recently jointly issued the Reward Measures for Reporting Illegal Activities Concerning Food and Drug.”

View larger map Francis Ortiz Gonzalez of Puerto Rico sentenced to 2 years in prison after being found guilty of one count of conspiracy and seven counts of trafficking in counterfeit drugs. The investigation conducted by ICE, Homeland Security and the FDA portrayed Ortiz Gonzalez as a member of a vast counterfeit drug distribution business…

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued warning letters to 20 US doctors that they have possibly purchased unapproved medications, including unapproved versions of the osteoporosis treatments Prolia and Aclasta, from drug wholesalers owned by suppliers operated by foreign entities outside US jurisdiction. The medical practices were warned that the wholesalers are selling drugs that not approved for sale in the United States and that they may be counterfeit.

The current warning about unapproved versions of the osteoporosis treatments Prolia and Aclasta were issued on September 10, 2012. The FDA letter states “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has received information indicating that your medical practice purchased multiple medications from a foreign distributor owned and operated by Canada Drugs, known as Montana Healthcare Solutions, Quality Specialty Products (QSP), A+ Health Supplies, QP Medical, Bridgewater Medical, Infusion Options, UK Pharmacy Services, or Clinical Care. Most, if not all, of the products sold and distributed by one of these distributors, including versions of Prolia and Aclasta, have not been approved by the FDA.”

Canadian online pharmacy pioneer, Andrew Strempler, was sentenced January 9th, 2013 to 4 years after he pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Initially, Strempler faced 4 charges relating to the case with each carrying a possible sentence of 20 years.

Strempler’s current legal woes stem from the FDA investigation of his Internet pharmacy business Mediplan Health Consulting Inc, also known as RX-North. According to the Wall Street Journal, FDA investigations of Strempler’s business discovered that 90% of the drugs they had seized from a Mediplan shipment were counterfeit. The shipment contained fake versions of Arimidex, a breast cancer treatment, and Lipitor, the cholesterol drug.

The FDA has issued warning letters to over 350 US medical practices that they may have purchased unapproved medications, including unapproved versions of Botox from wholesalers owned by foreign suppliers. The medical practices were warned that the suppliers sold drugs not approved for sale by the FDA that may be counterfeit.

In this latest incident of US doctors buying prescription medication for patients from questionable and unapproved sources, doctors in 38 states, and one hospital have received warnings that they have made purchases from an unapproved foreign supplier of medication.

internet pharmacy affiliates run by MyRxCash.com. In December, Legitscript was able to shut down operations for MyRxCash itself, and the hundreds of affiliate websites it had created.

MyRxCash, also known as Pronet, was warned by the FDA in September about their activities. The FDA letter warned Pronet that its “websites offer products for sale in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). More specifically, the websites listed below offer unapproved and misbranded new drugs for sale.”